Joseph Boakai

==Personal life==
Joseph Boakai was born in the remote village of [[Worsonga]] in [[Foya District]], [[Lofa County]],<ref name="Designs">{{Cite web|url=http://www.emansion.gov.lr/2content.php?sub=25&related=20&third=25&pg=sp|title=The Executive Mansion|last=Designs|first=BlueSeas Web|website=emansion.gov.lr|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421000312/http://www.emansion.gov.lr/2content.php?sub=25&related=20&third=25&pg=sp|url-status=dead}}</ref> on 30 November 1944, and is from the [[Kissi people|Kissi]] ethnic group.<ref name="Apart">{{cite web |title=Things Fall Apart – Two Boakai's Loyalists in Lofa Senatorial Faceoff |url=https://independentprobe.com/2023/02/21/things-fall-apart-two-boakais-loyalists-in-lofa-senatorial-faceoff/ |website=Independent Probe Newspaper |date=21 February 2023 |access-date=20 November 2023 |archive-date=20 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120112359/https://independentprobe.com/2023/02/21/things-fall-apart-two-boakais-loyalists-in-lofa-senatorial-faceoff/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He is married to [[Katumu Boakai]] and they have four children.<ref name="Biography">{{cite web|url=http://www.emansion.gov.lr/2content.php?sub=25&related=20&third=25&pg=sp|title=Biography of Vice President Joseph N. Boakai|publisher=eMansion.gov|access-date=8 October 2017|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421000312/http://www.emansion.gov.lr/2content.php?sub=25&related=20&third=25&pg=sp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Boakai is a [[Baptist]] and a [[deacon]] of the Effort Baptist Church.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5zaeeopwIQC&q=Boakai+is+a+religious+Baptist+and+a+Deacon+of+the+Effort+Baptist+Church.&pg=PA27|title=Liberia Mineral & Mining Sector Investment and Business Guide|date=7 February 2007|publisher=Int'l Business Publications|isbn=9781433029783|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Active in philanthropic efforts, Boakai supervised and personally financed a 7-mile (11.2-kilometer) rural village road construction near Warsonga in Lofa county, [[Liberia]]. He also worked with the Federation of Liberian Youth<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://flyliberia.wordpress.com/|title=Federation of Liberian Youth|website=Federation of Liberian Youth|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229232401/https://flyliberia.wordpress.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> (FLY) and the Danish Youth to construct a school for 150 students and clinic for a community of 10 villages. He was active in organizing and fundraising for the rural electrification of Foya Kama in Lofa County, Northern Liberia.<ref name="Designs"/>

Before serving as vice president, Boakai consulted with several institutions, including serving as Chief Technical Advisor on Agriculture Policy, Ministry of Agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.moa.gov.lr/|title=The Ministry of Agriculture|last=Designs|first=BlueSeas Web|website=moa.gov.lr|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=26 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226042252/http://moa.gov.lr/|url-status=live}}</ref> He reviewed and evaluated the Liberian 1986 proposed Green Revolution and FAO World Bank<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/home/en/|title=Home|website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=6 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106085436/http://www.fao.org/home/en/|url-status=live}}</ref> 1986 Agricultural sector Review Document and evaluated AMSCO, Amsterdam Funded training program for projects in Uganda in 1994 and Tanzania in 1996.

He is the owner of LUSU Resource Corporation and co-owner of AGROMACHINES Liberia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://liberia.buildingmarkets.org/|title=Building Markets in Liberia: Find Local Businesses {{!}} Sustainable Marketplace – Liberia :: Buy Local, Build Liberia|website=liberia.buildingmarkets.org|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229232355/http://liberia.buildingmarkets.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Boakai has served on many boards, including as chairman of Liberia Finance and Trust Corporation, chairman of the board of [[Star Radio]], founding member of LOIC, member of the board of the [[Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary]], founding member of Bethesda Christian Mission, founding organizer-[[African Methodist Episcopal University]], founding organizer of the [[C.W.A. Methodist University]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ame.edu.lr/|title=African Methodist Episcopal University|website=ame.edu.lr|access-date=29 December 2017|archive-date=22 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322030248/http://ame.edu.lr/|url-status=live}}</ref> ambassador of the Liberia YMCA, president of LUSU Resource Corporation, and ex-president of the Monrovia Rotary Club.

As vice president, he was the president of the Liberian Senate and presided over plenary sessions of that body for two days each week. He also performed supervisory functions over several institutions and agencies, including the Liberia National Lotteries (LOTTO), the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA), the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), and the National Commission on Disarmament Demobilization Resettlement and Reintegration (NCDDRR).